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Monday, January 19, 2009

Correcting a Mistake

Remember the column I built to cover the plumbing chase? The way I built it was sound, and the column sturdy, except in one location. You could say it had an 'Achilles' Heel'.

About a week after the column was finished an acquaintance of ours (who will go un-named in case they read this - YOU know who you are) came over. While looking at it he made a fist and whacked the top panel that faces the back door. He did this with such force it busted some of the nails holding the thing together.

Basically, I didn't brace the main panels as well as I could have (and knew I should have). Doing this would have required additional work to deal with the pluming pipes and electrical cable inside. Besides, I never figured someone would come along and whack it like they did. It even broke some of the plaster behind it.

So, the top part of the column had to be taken apart. Larger, sturdier braces we installed (sorry, I forgot to get pictures of them) and re re-did the face frames.

When I first built the face frames I attached them directly to the panel without jointing them together. I thought that by doing this it might help keep the boards from breaking when the house shifts. Upon further research I decided to joint them properly.

I knew this would have to be done eventually, and because of this some of my Christmas wishes were effected.

Remember the Kreg Pocket Hole Jig w/Face Clamp I got? It was needed for this application as well as for the future kitchen cabinets.

This is the jig after the pocket holes have been drilled.

These are all the parts needed to make the pocket holes.

It's really quite simple to do and creates a strong joint.

This picture shows how it all goes together.

The clamp is holding the two pieces together while the screws are screwed in.

This last picture is just so you can see how the screws look when installed. Notice that you don't use the normal screwdriver tip.

Since the pocket holes will not be seen I didn't plug them.

For more info on the Kreg Jig Jr. R3 system have a look here and here.

The most interesting part about putting the face frames back together using the Kreg system was how solid it was. The face frames are just shy of 8' long and I could wave them with one hand and they didn't bend or twist.

Once all of this was done I held off reattaching the face frames. I wanted to show them to SWMBO.

Get this. When she got home and I showed them to her she pointed out the the top column did not perfectly line line up with the base. I tried to show her that one side of the column was wider than the other side and so they wouldn't line up perfectly with each other.

She wasn't happy. She pestered me all week-end to fix it so they would line up. So, guess what I did for part of the week-end and today? If you guessed "taking the column apart again" you'd be correct.

That's right, I took the column completely apart again and rebuilt it. It isn't perfect, but it is as close as possible.

Tomorrow I will finish it up and sand it. With all the extra work on it scuffs could not be helped and they need to be sanded out.

About Me

Well, I was born and raised in a tiny, tiny town in South Central Kansas. I met my wife, Annette, in the 3rd grade and knew she was for me by the 5th grade.
I have managed to get a degree in Anthropology with an emphasis in Archaeology. She has one in Biology.
We both love old houses and architecture, as well as junk shops and flea markets.
We have been married now for 20 years as of April 4th '07 and share our house with 5 cats and a dog.
Primarily I live to annoy my family and friends AND work on our house.